Domestic dishwashing appliances typically employ a drying cycle which uses heat to dry the dishes. One means of reducing the energy consumption of such appliances is to provide the user with a choice of two drying options, one being the conventional heated dry option and the second being an energy saving non-heated dry option. The user, by way of a pushbutton, rotary knob, or a slider provided on the control panel of the appliances, manually selects the desired option. A shortcoming of dishwashing appliances presently available which provide such options is that the choice, once made, remains in effect through subsequent uses of the machine until an opposite choice is made. Thus, should the user select the heated drying option for one load of dishes, this selection would remain in effect for all subsequent loads until the non-heated dry option is selected. In order to more fully exploit the energy savings potential of the non-heated dry option, it would be advantageous to automatically provide the non-heated dry option each time an operating cycle is initiated unless the user consciously selects the heated dry option. With such an arrangement, in instances where the user doesn't really need the heated dry option or doesn't care which option is selected, the non-heated dry option would automatically be selected for the next load regardless of the option selected for the previous load.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a switch arrangement in a washing appliance of the type providing heated dry and non-heated dry options for the dry cycle, which automatically provides the non-heated dry option for each new wash load requiring the user to consciously select the heated dry option for each cycle in which that function is desired regardless of the option selected for the previous load.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a switch arrangement for a washing appliance of the above-described type wherein an option selection switch is automatically reset to the non-heated dry setting upon each cycle interruption caused by unlatching of the dishwasher door either during the operating cycle or at the end thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a switch arrangement for a washing appliance of the above-described type in which the option selection switch is mechanically linked to the door latch such that the movement of the latch from a latched position to an unlatched position automatically resets the switch to the non-heated dry setting.